Novamorphs 1: The Infestation
by Sciencefictionsquirrel
Summary: Through a series of events, the Animorphs lived and grew up to have kids. Now the Animorphs' kids are forced to fight against a new Yeerk menace. Full summary inside. Now Complete! Look for the second book, Novamorphs #2: The Search.
1. Chapter 1

Animorphs 2.0: Novamorphs Generation

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs. I do, however, own this story.

Summary: Something intervened when Jake gave the order to ram the Blade ship. The Animorphs found themselves back on Earth with a freed Ax, a resurrected Rachel, and a human Tobias. They tried to find out what had happened, in the meantime growing up and having kids of their own. Now the kids must fight against a new Yeerk menace by themselves because letting the public know would lead to Earth's destruction at the hands of an entity even more powerful than the Ellimist and Crayak.

Novamorphs #1: The Infestation

Chapter 1

My name is Alex. That's all I can tell you. For all you know, Alex may not even be my real name. You see, the Yeerks are back. I can't trust anyone outside of our little group of friends. We are the Novamorphs, and we are determined to stop the Yeerks like the original Animorphs did.

It started the day we got our morphing licenses. We'd passed the test that would determine if we could use the morphing technology and were hanging out in my mom's barn. In the middle of the barn, there was a Zero-Space radio. We were sitting in chairs arranged in a semicircle around it. On the screen was a mouthless face covered in purplish-blue fur with two almond-shaped eyes, three vertical slits in place of a nose, and two stalks coming out of her head. One the end of each stalk was an eye.

"We did it, Aldrea. We passed our morphing tests with flying colors. Class Three clearance right off the bat. Two-and-a-half years without any problems related to the morphing tech and we'll be eligible to apply for Class Four." I said. Perhaps I should explain. Morphing technology was given to Earth's general (non-military) population in exchange for a Krispy Kreme franchise on the Andalite Homeworld. The governments of the world set up a system to limit morphing. You have to apply for a morphing license, which you can do when you turn 13, with varying levels of clearance. Class One clearance allows you to acquire harmless Earth creatures like worms, slugs, snails, that kind of thing. Class Two has the addition of species, both earthly and alien, that aren't harmless, but are non-lethal. Class Three, the highest you can get when you first pass, allows for virtually all non-lethals and some non-lethal sentients. Class Four, available only after two-and-a-half years of Class Three without any morph-related offenses or by special recommendation, allows you all non-lethals, both earthly and alien, a large amount of sentients, and some potentially lethal species. Class Five is divided into two categories: Limited and Unlimited, both of which are available only to military personnel. Class Five Limited allows for most sentients and other creatures, with several more potentially lethal species. Class Five Unlimited is essentially whatever morphs you want. To enforce this, each person given the morphing tech is implanted with a subcutaneous chip that records what morphs you acquire. If the morph is outside you clearance, they take you in and perform a procedure that causes an allergy to the DNA, resulting in the DNA being "burped" out of your body, which removes your ability to morph that creature. The chip also records the number of times you morph, which morph you use, when you use it, and for how long. To prevent the chip from breaking out of your body when you morph something smaller than the chip, the chip is designed to be shunted into Z-Space with the rest of the extra mass, and to return when you morph back to human.

((I am glad that you now have the morphing ability.)) Aldrea replied. At the moment, she was on an Andalite patrol ship that patrolled the Z-space corridor between Earth and the Andalite Homeworld. The ship was due to land on Earth for a few days and give its crew some vacation time. It was supposed to arrive today, if Z-Space hadn't reconfigured.

"Hey, I keep forgetting which level of morph clearance you have, Aldrea." I said.

((The Andalite Military does not use the morph clearance system the humans use.)) Aldrea replied. At one point, Andalite females wouldn't normally have been allowed in their military at the end of the first Yeerk War, but Hillary Clinton had begun advocating the right of Andalite females to serve in the military, and the Andalites, fearing that Earth would turn against them if they didn't allow females in their military, gave in, although somewhat reluctantly.

"Hey, how long until your ship lands?" That was Jarad, my best friend. He had been named for Jara Hamee, first of the free Hork-Bajir.

((I will be on Earth in approximately three Earth hours, Jarad.))

"Sounds good. Gives us time to acquire morphs so we can go out and get used to it." That was Darren, my other best friend and resident troublemaker. We'd all known what morphs he intended to get. He wanted a monkey. And a mole.

"Good to hear from you again, Aldrea." That was my sister, Kendra. "Remember, you and I still have some shopping to do."

((I remember, Kendra.))

"And don't forget, if you behave yourself during the stay here, I'll buy you a couple of dozen cinnamon buns from the Cinnabon." Laurie said. She was Jarad's sister.

((Well, I shall see you all soon. I must go now. Captain-Prince Faran-Khaleed-Midzure is requesting that all arisths report to him for one final briefing on proper human behavior so as to avoid any problems.))

"Bye." I said. The others waved and said other goodbyes.

I clicked off the Z-Space transponder, then looked at the others. "Lets head to The Gardens' Morph Acquisition Center and see what animals they have that are on our clearance level." I said, heading out of the barn. My Mom already had the car ready. She'd known we'd wanted to get our first morphs the same day we passed the test.

We drove to The Gardens, the awesome amusement park/zoo that now housed the town's Morph Acquisition Center, or MAC, where various creatures available for morphing were held. Certain alien species were also available there, though you usually had to go to a county or even a state MAC for a lot of the better alien species.

When we arrived, my mom showed us through security and into the MAC. It was a fairly large building. If you wanted to acquire a morph that would be hard to get in nature, you put in a request to the front desk, and then were taken to one of the rooms where the acquisition took place. The animal(s) you had requested were led into the room through passageways behind the walls. Once there, if it was dangerous, the animal to be acquired was given a sedative and two guards always stood ready with tranquilizer guns in case the animal tried to escape. Then you simply walked up to the animal, put your hand on it, and acquired it.

Us five kids each took a clipboard with the animal request form on it. You could fit five requests on one form. I went to a seat and sat down, tapping the pen against the clipboard as I thought. I wanted a bird morph, of course. I decided to go with a seagull. I then proceeded to write down my other requests. They included: Dolphin, Thompson's gazelle, bat, and my own personal favorite, the chameleon. As much as I wanted a wolf, they were definitely Class Four. All the battle morphs used by the Animorphs were Class Four, and I wouldn't have that level of clearance for two-and-a-half years unless someone put a letter of recommendation forward.

A few minutes after I turned in the form, I was called in. I followed one of the caretakers into a room, and watched as a seagull was brought in. It was properly sedated, and I reached out my hand and touched it, concentrating on its DNA. A few moments later, I acquired it. The next few animals were brought in, except for the dolphin. They had a special tank room for the aquatic species that people might want to acquire. After I had my four other choices, I was led into the tank room, where the dolphin was already waiting.

After I had the morphs, I was led back out. By the door leading back into the waiting room, I met up with the others, who had been called in at the same time. We decided to head out and get some practice with our morphs, as well as try to get a few commonplace animals, like flies, cockroaches, squirrels, and other creatures.

Two-and-a-half hours later, we were back in my mom's car heading for the spaceport. We had received word that Aldrea's ship was coming in on schedule, and we wanted to be there to greet her.

When we arrived, we headed to the terminal where she was getting off her ship. We smiled and waved her over. Seeing us, she gave that weird smile that the Andalites give with their eyes, then walked over.

"What shall we do now, Alex?" she asked. While she didn't consider me to be her 'Prince,' to use the Andalite rank, she did respect me as the leader of the others and followed me out of that respect.

"Let's head to the mall." I said. Laurie handed over a bag of clothes, which Aldrea took before heading into a small stall where people could morph. When she emerged, she was in her human morph, which she had created using a Frolis Maneuver with DNA from Laurie, Kendra, Jarad, Darren, myself, and several other kids, mostly girls, who had known Aldrea when she lived on Earth. She was dressed in casual clothes: Jeans and a T-shirt.

We headed off to the mall. My mom had agreed to drop us off and pick us up unless we decided to get home another way. When we got to the mall, we hit the Food Court first. Aldrea would never start a stay on earth without first snacking.

Several hours later, we were walking home. Aldrea had reverted to Andalite form for the walk. We were going through what had once been an old construction site, but it was now a monument. In the exact spot where Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul crashed to Earth and died, a statue of five human kids stood with their hands touching a cube held by the dying Andalite Prince.

As we walked by the statue, I heard someone crying. I walked over and noticed a human boy about my age. He was clutching his knees to his chest and sobbing into them. He looked up at us.

"You're the ones they told me to wait for." He said simply. His voice was faint, weak.

"Who? Who told you to wait for us?" I asked.

"The glowing blue, old man and the monster eye." The boy said, coughing. "They said to run here and wait for five people and one Andalite to come. They said to . . . to tell you about the enemy."

((What enemy?)) Aldrea asked.

"The Yeerks. They've-" he was cut off by Aldrea's exclamation.

((The Yeerks? Impossible!))

"It's not impossible. They've come back. They serve a being of great power. The glowing man said that only a select few people could fight them. They said that you and those you choose to fight at your side are the ones who must fight. If too many people know, the Enemy will not hesitate to use his full power to wipe Earth out. You have to fight them. Only you can do so."

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"I was a Controller. The glowing man gave me the strength to fight my Yeerk and keep him away from the Pool long enough to starve him."

"Come with us. We'll take you home." I say.

"No. I don't have a home. My father left me and Mom, and my mom kicked me out when she caught me trying to restore five old Yeerk Dracon beams and use spare and scrap parts to build my own kind of energy weapon. But that's not important. The Yeerks won't let me live when they find out my Yeerk isn't in the pool." He said, then continued, "The Yeerks are led by none other than Esplin 9466, the former Visser Three/One. You-" Again he was cut off.

((Esplin Nine-Four-Double-Six escaped? How?)) Aldrea exclaimed.

"The Enemy freed him somehow. Now shut up and listen or the Earth is doomed. The Yeerks were given new hosts: The Javrakari."

((The Javrakari? But they are long dead, wiped out in wars they had no hope of winning.)) Aldrea said.

"Again, don't ask me how." The boy said.

"How are we supposed to fight them?" Darren asked.

"Read the history books. Fight like the Animorphs did." The boy said. "I can help. Just give me a place to stay."

"We don't even have lethal morph clearance." Jarad said, looking around.

"Considering who your parents are, you could probably get at least Class Four with a letter of recommendation from them, maybe even Class Five Limited right now if they cashed in a few favors." The boy said.

"What's your name?" Laurie asked.

"Jeff. Anyways, my name isn't important. I have to finish telling you. Visser Three got his hands on an Escafil device and took a morph-capable human host. His whole force is likely morph-capable. Trust only those who you know are clean."

I looked at the others. "Let's go. We have a world to save. If there's a Yeerk invasion, we have to stop it. If we have to do it by ourselves, fine. Jeff, are you in?"


	2. Chapter 2

Animorphs 2.0: Novamorphs Generation

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs. I do, however, own this story.

Chapter Two

"I'm in." Jeff replied without hesitation.

Aldrea took my arm, and said in private thought-speak to me, ((Are you sure we can trust him? For all we know, it could be a trap. Perhaps an attempt to kidnap us and demand a large ransom.))

I stopped for a second, then said, "Everyone except Jeff, morph. Jeff, I'm sorry, but we have to discuss this in private."

Once we were all morphed, I said, ((Something about him just tells me we can trust him. I don't know why. It's just . . . one of those things you know without really having to think. My instincts tell me we need to trust him and that he's telling the truth.))

((I'm with Alex.)) Kendra said.

((So are we.)) Jarad and Laurie said simultaneously.

((I have to agree with Aldrea. I say we hold him for three days to make sure he isn't a Controller. In the meantime, we should get our parents to put in letters of recommendation for us to be given Class Four morph clearance. We also should have them run a background check on him. They've got all sorts of connections.)) Darren said. Darren was a guy I trusted. He usually knew what he was talking about with regard to possible courses of action.

((Okay. Anyone have any problems with that?)) I asked. When no one spoke, I began to demorph from seagull. When I got the human mouth, I said, "Okay, Jeff, we've decided on a course of action. We're going to have to hold you for three days in case you are a Yeerk trying to lure us into a trap. During that time, we'll be running a background check on you. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Actually, I completely agree. Don't trust anyone, like I said." Jeff said.

As we began walking to my house to pick up a few things, Aldrea moved her tail blade so that it was hovering near Jeff's neck, ready to separate his head from his shoulders if he tried anything.

"So, Jeff, what level of morph clearance do you have?" I asked casually.

"Class Four. My dad apparently pulled a few strings, sent in a letter allowing me to apply for higher clearance. I wouldn't suggest that you get your respective parents to do it. The Morph Laws Regulation Board doesn't exactly like it when parents use prestige to get their children higher clearance. However, they do seem to turn a blind eye to it when parents send in requests for their friends' children. Like you and Kendra, Alex. Have Jarad and Laurie's parents send in the letter asking them to let you two apply for Class Four. Darren, have Kendra and Alex's parents send in yours, and Jarad and Laurie's letters of recommendation can get sent in by Darren's parents." Jeff said.

"Okay, we just need to work out a story for why you need to stay at my house after we've made sure you're clean." I say.

"My parents are gone and I need a place to stay for a while." Jeff said, coming up with the story seemingly off the top of his head. "You and I have known each other for a while, but we've been too busy to hang out with each other very much, which is why I haven't been over before."

"That sounds like a plausible story." I said.

When we got to my house, it was dark outside. I sneaked inside and grabbed some rope, then met the others at a shack in the woods. Aldrea had gone to clear it with her superiors that she was going to be staying off-base for the next few days. We tied Jeff to a chair and worked out a guard schedule. Aldrea would guard him during the day, and the rest of us would take turns guarding him at night.

As the next three days passed, we went about our daily business while Darren's parents, using a picture of Jeff, ran a background check on him using some of the connections they still had from the first Yeerk war. Also, we had managed to convince our parents to write special recommendations so that we could apply for Class Four morph clearance. While I was guarding Jeff to make sure he didn't try to escape, I talked to him. We talked about all sorts of things. He would sometimes go off on tangential stories about the original Animorphs and sing high praise for them.

We were a little surprised when the background check came back. He completely checked out, but his birth certificate was the most interesting. It had 'Jake Berenson' as the father. Jake Berenson had been one of the original Animorphs; their leader, in fact. The only thing was, to public knowledge, Jake had dropped off the face of the planet years ago without leaving any children.

Finally, after three days of watching Jeff, we had no choice but to pronounce him safe. We decided that now was the time to try and see if my parents would let Jeff stay at my house.

We went over to my house after releasing Jeff and getting him cleaned up. I walked in the front door and noticed my Mom and Dad sitting next to each other on the couch

"Hey, Mom, Dad, there's something I need to talk to you about." I said, walking over and sitting in a chair. Jeff and the others followed.

"Mom, Dad, this is Jeff." I said. Now I was committed. There was no more time to second guess my decision. I had to go ahead with our explanation.

After telling my parents the explanation that Jeff and I had agreed on, I wasn't surprised that my parents said that Jeff could stay with us for as long as he needed to. I had no idea how long that would be. The main concern I had was how my Mom was going to handle living in the same house as the child of the man she'd loved when she was just a teenager.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day, Wednesday, we decided to meet and discuss what we were going to do. Aldrea had officially put in a request to be transferred to a position on Earth so she could fight the Yeerks here with the rest of us. The request would take a few days to go through. Until she was officially reassigned, she was simply an Andalite warrior on leave.

"Okay, Jeff. Do you have any information about the Yeerks that we could use?"

"I know everything my Yeerk knew. The main Pool is located mainly beneath the mall. The entrances outside the mall are located in a few schools, the movie theater, and there are two in The Gardens. However, they have also built three secondary, smaller Pools in addition to the main one. This way, if the main Pool is destroyed, there are other pools located throughout the city so the Yeerks won't be dying by the hundreds and thousands from Kandrona starvation. You'd have to destroy the Main Pool and all three secondaries to incapacitate the Yeerks. You can't even just take out the Kandrona generator to knock all four pools out because each pool has a primary generator and a backup."

"Okay, so a direct attack is out of the question. Anything else, like a project we could sabotage?"

"Well, one of Esplin's sub-vissers was working on an experiment intended to replace the need for Kandrona radiation. He was attempting to synthesize the chemicals in maple and cinnamon oatmeal that make it a suitable replacement. However, he was attempting to remove the chemicals that have destructive effects on the Yeerk brain stem."

((Is he close to succeeding?)) Aldrea asked.

"Very. Four days ago, the day before I fought my Yeerk for control and starved him, the Yeerk in charge of the project, Sub-visser 3, or Koram Five-Eight-Three, said he was within ten days of succeeding. I know exactly where the research lab is. All the data is contained there. If we destroy it, we can keep one more advantage from the Yeerks."

"Okay, it sounds like we have our first target. We just have to wait until we have Class Four clearance to get some more animals. Then we strike. Where is the facility located, Jeff?" I ask.

"The outskirts of town. A small company called Blackstar Technologies."

"No kidding? Blackstar Tech is a Yeerk organization?" Darren asked incredulously.

"Not originally, but the Yeerks took it over fairly early on in the invasion, about a year ago. They needed a front organization so that they could develop more technology to aid in their conquest."

"I see." I said. "I just want to know a few things: What are the Javrakari?"

Aldrea spoke up. ((The Javrakari are a very dangerous species. They were created by another species, the Kalmra, as warriors. They wiped out their creators, then got involved in other wars that they had no hope of winning. The last I heard, they were extinct.))

"The Yeerks found enough intact DNA to recreate the species. The Javrakari look like velociraptors with four arms. The lower two arms do not end in hands, but one ends in a very powerful energy weapon, the other in an electroshock generator. The upper two arms are assymetrical as well. One ends in a five-fingered, clawed hand, while the other ends in a clamp-like claw that, when closed, forms a blade. Their tail is tipped in poisonous barbs. They can see into a huge range of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are incredibly fast and agile. Every sharp part of their body has poison or venom in it. Last, but certainly not least, their skin is virtually impenetrable. The only things I've seen injure them are their own energy weapons, their own claws and teeth, Hork-Bajir blades, and Dracon beams. The last thing you want to do is fight one head-on in anything but the most powerful morphs." Jeff said.

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Visser Three escaped because a group of Yeerks that first encountered the entity they now follow was ordered to break him out. One of their own switched places with the Visser willingly. Also, the Council of Thirteen has given Esplin the rank of Supreme Visser. All the other vissers are under his direct command. In addition, he has several sub-vissers working directly under him."

"What else is there?" Darren asked.

"The security around Blackstar Tech is really tight. Laser triplines, Gleet BioFilters, security cameras, guards armed with Dracon beams, and a large amount of Javrakari patrolling at regular intervals. If we act quickly, before the Yeerks realize I'm free, my DNA will still be in the Gleet BioFilters, and I also know the control codes to get around the other security systems. The rest of you can hide on me. Once in there, we have to reach the central power chamber, which is hidden in the basement of the facility. Once we're in there, we can cause a catastrophic overload and destroy the entire building and all the information on the project. From start to finish, the operation shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

"You're sure we can pull this off? It seems pretty difficult." Kendra said.

"I'm sure. The only downside is that we've got a window in which to act of only a few days. If we run into trouble because someone realizes my Yeerk hasn't been in the Pool for three feeding cycles, I can always say I was unable to reach the pool due to being on a very sensitive assignment and was forced to use a few single-use disposable Kandrona generators, but there are a few Yeerks who will question that story. We have to act soon. If my Yeerk misses another feeding cycle, and someone notices, odds are they'll come after me."

"If what you're telling us is true, we'd probably have to fight our way out, so we can't do anything until we've got Class Four morph clearance and a few Class Four morphs." I said.

"It's been three days since you put in the applications. I'd say it'll only be, at most, two more days. We'd probably have to act immediately. It's already cutting it close since, by now, my Yeerk would've missed two feeding cycles. The Yeerks are probably already getting suspicious. Our best bet is that they buy the story about my being on a sensitive assignment without access to a pool and having to use single-use disposable Kandrona emitters." Jeff said.

"That's taking a big risk, but I don't see what choice we have." I said. "We hit the facility the moment we have Class Four clearance and morphs."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

We spent the next several hours going over all of Jeff's knowledge about the project. He sketched out a map of the facility and showed us each and every security detail.

"Now, you have to remember, there are Gleet BioFilters every 100 feet, with laser triplines every five feet. The Javrakari guards patrol each corridor every four minutes, and morph-capable human guards armed with Dracon beams patrol every two minutes. The entrances to the corridors leading to the power chamber are located here, here, here, and here. Once we're in, let me handle triggering the overload from the control panel. However, it wouldn't hurt to sever the coolant pipes here, here, and here. That will accelerate the time to core overload from fifteen minutes down to five, as well as making it irreversible. The overload command can be overridden, but severing the coolant pipes can't. Without the coolant system, the core will overheat. We can work out the nuts and bolts of the plan after you guys have Class Four clearance."

With that, the meeting adjourned and we all headed off. I told Kendra to head home and that I'd catch up with her there, then I walked over to Aldrea and asked if she'd mind flying around for a bit before heading home. I told her there were some things I wanted to talk to her about. That was partially true. I also just wanted to spend some time with her. She was only on Earth for a few days every several months, and we hadn't heard back on whether or not her transfer request had been approved. Until we did, I was going to treat it as though she'd be leaving in a few days, and I was going to enjoy every second of her company that I could.

We both morphed to seagull. Aldrea would normally have morphed to _kafit_ bird, but talking in thought-speak was easier when you were closer to the person, and the numerous differences between the_ kafit_ and seagull would have made that hard. When the seagull instincts rose up, I pushed them back down, then took off, Aldrea right behind me.

((So, what is it you wish to speak to me about?)) she asked.

((I just wanted to know how you've been.)) I said.

((I have been fine. The news about this new Yeerk invasion is unsettling. Even more unsettling is the fact that we cannot tell anyone without risking Earth's destruction at the hands of this alleged higher power.)) Aldrea said.

((Yeah. That is unsettling. I'm actually a little afraid. What if we fail? What if Earth falls? I can't stop thinking about how there are so many things that could go wrong. I don't know if we're actually going to be able to stop the Yeerks. I mean, we aren't our parents.))

((True, we are not our parents, but a warrior's ability exists no matter what. I believe we can fight them. I also believe we can win. Failure means death, for I would choose death over enslavement at any given time.))

((So would I. We have to win, but I still have to ask, why us? Why are we the only ones who can fight them?))

((Well, Jeff did say that the 'glowing man' and the 'giant eye' said that we could choose others to fight with us. Perhaps we should begin looking for others to fight at our sides.))

((They also said we could only recruit a few others. Besides, at this point, anyone could be a Controller. If we choose to have other people help us fight, we'd have to make sure that whoever we choose isn't under the control of the Yeerks.))

((That won't be too hard. We simply hold them for three days and run a background check, as we did with Jeff.))

((Aldrea, I have to ask you something.))

((What?))

((Do you ever wonder if fate is really just the name we give to the actions of higher powers who use us for their own reasons?))

((Perhaps it is. However, I believe that, if we are chosen by fate, there must be a reason for it, something about who we are as people and what we can contribute to the cause we are chosen for that cannot be replaced by any other. Whatever the reason for us being chosen, we were chosen for a reason, and it is our duty to serve the cause we were chosen for.))

((That's . . . oddly philosophical.)) I commented, turning and flying over a street, catching a dying thermal, a pillar of warm air caused by the heat of the sun reflecting off of something. However, this late it the day, with the sun setting at our backs, the thermals weren't that great, and I only rose a short distance before flying off of it and heading for the open fields.

For the next hour or so, Aldrea and I just flew, thinking and enjoying each other's company. Her comment about being chosen by fate because of something about us that could further a specific cause had put us both into deep thought. Towards the end, we ended up sitting on the rigging of a boat out in the marina, watching the sun set. It was beautiful. The dying rays of the sun lit the clouds (what few there were) on fire, washing out the blue of the sky with oranges, yellows, and reds that reminded me of molten metal. Sitting there with Aldrea and enjoying that amazing, beautiful sight with her, that's what I believe to be the point when I realized that this wasn't just a fight for freedom that we had been drawn into; this was a fight for all that was still beautiful in the world, the galaxy, the universe. Not fighting meant never again being able to enjoy the beauty that filled every moment of life.

After the sun set, we just sat and stared at the stars as they came out. We didn't speak; words would have just ruined the calm, peaceful mood. It was like the calm before a storm, now that I think about it. Finally, Aldrea spoke up. ((We have been in morph for one-hundred-fifteen Earth minutes. We should demorph now, then remorph and return to our living quarters.))

I did a quick mental calculation. I came up with- ((We've been in morph for an hour and fifty-five minutes? Why didn't you let me know sooner that we were running out of time?)) I quickly flew down to the dock and began demorphing. Aldrea landed beside me, beginning to demorph as well.

((I felt it was not appropriate to disturb the mood. It was too peaceful. speaking up sooner would have cut short our mutual enjoyment of it.)) she said when she was in Andalite form once again. We then began to remorph back to seagull. As soon as I got the vision, however, I regretted not having a nocturnal morph; the seagull couldn't see very well in the dark.

((It would appear that this morph is not suited for nocturnal travel.)) Aldrea said.

I began to demorph. "Well, I'll walk home." I said once I had a human mouth.

Aldrea demorphed as well. ((I suppose I could also walk home. I shall see you tomorrow.)) she said, beginning to canter away, then stopping and flicking her tail forward in what I assumed was a 'come on' gesture. ((Are you not going to walk with me? The Andalite base is not too far away, and we could arrange for you to get transport home from there.))

"That's a good idea." I said, rushing to catch up to her. I had to stop to catch my breath; demorphing, then remorphing, then demorphing again in the space of a few minutes is not something I would recommend; it's extremely tiring.

Aldrea, however, did not seem to be fatigued. ((If you are tired, I could carry you on my back until you are ready to walk on your own again.)) she said sweetly.

"You're sure that's okay?" I asked.

((Yes. I can carry you for a brief time, at least.)) With that, she motioned for me to get on her back. I obliged, and we began walking to the Andalite base in silence. After about fifteen minutes, she said, ((I believe you can walk on your own now.))

I got off her back and began walking beside her. When we reached the Andalite base, Aldrea arranged for a transport to take me home.

That night, I went to sleep thinking of how I'd be willing to fight to the death for Earth and my friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day, after school, we met up again in the barn. We'd just gotten word that we had been approved to try out for Class Four morph clearance. Aldrea had also received word that her transfer request had been approved. She would now be serving under Princess Xenzhril-Kelvana-Miiktuu, the commander of the local Andalite military base.

"Okay, guys, here's the deal: we need to take the morphing test, then get our morphs and practice with them. If we take the test today, we'll get our clearance, and then we can get morphs today and practice with them tomorrow. We hit the facility tomorrow night."

Kendra looked at me. "Are you insane? One day practicing with battle morphs before throwing ourselves into combat? That's crazy! We'd need at least a couple of days."

"Yeah. We might lose control of the morphs in the middle of a fight. Then what? We could get ourselves killed because we might not know how to deal with the animals' instincts." Laurie said.

((I believe that we will be fine. We are all strong enough to suppress animalistic instinctual tendencies. I have full confidence in our abilities. We have no choice, in any case. If we wait too long, the Yeerks may realize Jeff is no longer one of them and send forces out to kill him, at which point they will remove his DNA from the Gleet BioFilters and we will not be able to infiltrate Blackstar Technologies and destroy it without taking even greater risks.)) Aldrea said.

"I agree with Aldrea. I say we take our chances with only a little bit of battle morph experience. We can't wait very long. We're already pushing our luck. Jeff's story about his Yeerk being on a covert assignment and using single-use disposable Kandrona emitters can only hold for so long. Let's just go and take the test." Jarad said.

I looked at Darren. "What do you say?"

"I say we risk it tomorrow night. We really don't have time to waste. Attacking later could mean losing our way in." he said.

"Okay, it's settled. Aldrea, you can stay here with Jeff. The rest of us are going to go take the morphing test."

A short time later, we demorphed from our seagull morphs in front of the M.A.C., which also housed the local branch of the Department of Morphing Technology. We walked in, handed over the testing fee, then headed into a room, sat down, and began taking the test. There was a written portion with multiple-choice questions and then an oral exam, where they'd ask us other questions.

After we finished, the proctor ran the test results through a computer and announced that we had passed. We got our pictures taken, our licenses printed off, and the subcutaneous morph-log chips were reprogrammed so that they understood that animals falling under Class Four were within our clearance range. Next, we headed to the M.A.C. portion of the building and again filled out the morph request forms, this time getting both battle morphs and other useful morphs. For my battle morph, I put down wolf. I also put down bald eagle for a surveillance morph. Then I put down owl(for the night vision), and handed the form in.

After we got the morphs, we headed home to meet up with Aldrea and Jeff. I looked at the others. "So, what did you guys get?" I asked.

"Polar bear for battle, osprey for surveillance, and owl for night vision." Jarad said.

"Snow leopard for battle, osprey for surveillance, and owl." Kendra said.

"Gorilla for battle, golden eagle for surveillance, and owl for night vision." Laurie said.

"Komodo dragon for battle, peregrine falcon for surveillance, and owl." Darren said. "What about you?"

"Wolf, bald eagle, and owl." I said. "Jeff, do you have a battle morph?"

"Well, during my time as a Controller, I was on Visser Eight's security detail. I had to get a Hork-Bajir for that job, along with a variety of other creatures. If you guys don't mind, I'd prefer to use my Hork-Bajir." he said.

"A Hork-Bajir? Those are Class Five, aren't they?" Jarad asked.

"The Yeerks figured out a way to trick the subcutaneous chips. I technically have Class Four clearance, but, because the Yeerks messed around with the chip, it thinks I have Class Five Unlimited. If you guys want, I can do the same thing to your chips." Jeff replied.

"No thanks. As awesome as it would be to be able to acquire whatever I want, I'd rather not get thrown in prison for morph law violations if we get caught." Darren said.

"I agree. Considering who our parents are, it would look bad enough if one of us got caught with fake clearance. If all of us got caught, the scandal would be huge." I said. "Now, let's see what our morphs can do."

A few hours later, everyone else had gone home. I was in my room, reading Sun Tzu's _The Art of War_. I've always been interested in tactics and strategy. Something about them just appeals to me. I spend a lot of time changing factors in major battles to change the outcome, to see what course the battles could have taken. My favorite thing to do was give one side or another the advantages of more modern weapons and then mentally simulate the altered battle. I'd also sometimes change the strategies that one side or the other used.

There was a knock on my door, and Jeff walked in. "Hey." he said. "Can I sit down?" I nodded.

Jeff sat down on my bed. "I just wanted to thank you again for trusting me. I wasn't really expecting you to believe me, let alone ask me to help fight the Yeerks with you guys."

"No problem. We need all the help we can get."

"There's something else that I'm a little curious about."

"What?"

"Is there something going on between you and Aldrea?"

"WHAT?!" I practically screamed. "You're kidding, right? There is absolutely nothing going on between me and Aldrea. We're just friends, that's all. What gave you the idea that something was going on between us?"

"The way you act around her. You seem really protective of her. And then there are the two-and-a-half hours you were with her yesterday. Alone."

"We just talked and watched the sun set." I said. "Nothing else happened."

"Okay. Just checking."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After school the next day, we headed to a Morph Practice Range, where people could go to test out their morphs in a safer setting than their own backyards. We set up some targets and then morphed to practice attacking them. I was particularly pleased by how well Darren was handling the Komodo dragon. He was practicing quick attacks, getting in, slashing open the enemy's neck, chest, and stomach with his claws and teeth, and getting out to move onto the next opponent. We were all practicing that way, striking as quickly as possible to disable the enemy and then going for the next one. Jeff was doing the best, striking at major arteries with his Hork-Bajir blades and whirling around from enemy to enemy, dealing death and injury nonstop.

For about two-and-a-half hours we practiced. Finally, I told everyone to demorph, head home, and get some rest. We were going to attack Blackstar Technologies that night, and I didn't want anyone to be too tired. We'd decided to meet up at about eight-thirty that night at my house to go over the plan one final time.

Kendra, Jeff, and I were flying home together in our raptor morphs. We knew it would be obvious we were morphs because of how closely together we were flying, but at that point it wasn't too important to disguise that fact. A lot of people could morph, and it wasn't uncommon to see groups of friends flying together.

((So, hypothetically, what if one of us gets killed?)) Kendra asked.

((I don't know. I guess we could try to make it look like whoever got killed ran away or something.)) I said. Kendra's question had caught me off guard. I hadn't really thought about what we'd do if one of us got killed; I'd just assumed that, no matter what, the seven of us would make it out alive - the thought that we could get killed hadn't entered my mind.

((Or we could try to make it look like an accident.)) Jeff said.

((Anyways, we'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it. Until we actually need to think about it, which we won't, it's just one more thing that we don't need to deal with right now.)) I said, regaining my composure and putting on a mask of confidence. ((Let's just focus on getting home.))

Later that night, at 8:30, we had regrouped back at the barn. Aldrea had taken Jeff's sketches of the facility and programmed them into a holoprojector, which I turned on. It showed only the inside of the facility in blue, semitransparent light, with the security features in red.

I touched the controls, and seven differently-colored dots of light appeared.

"Okay, here's the deal. Each of these dots corresponds to one of us. One of us, in owl morph, is going to stay outside and keep an eye on things out there." I touched the console, and one of the dots floated up into the air and began circling the facility.

"Next, the remaining six of us are going to work our way into the building, with five of us hiding on Jeff as bugs. We are going to head straight for the power core." The six dots on the ground moved on top of each other and began moving, leaving faint light trails. They went through the facility and downward into the power chamber, then back out after the power chamber began flashing red. A short time later, there was a holographic explosion and the hologram disappeared.

"Jeff is going to activate the overload from the control panel while the rest of us morph to battle morphs, sever the coolant pipes, and then hold off anyone trying to stop us. Next, we head straight for the exit, fighting our way out if necessary. Once we're far enough away, we demorph, then remorph to owl and fly as far away as we can before demorphing and heading home. Any questions?"

"Just one: Does anyone else think this is insane?" Jarad asked.

"Hey, our parents did some pretty insane things during the first Yeerk War, and they beat the Yeerks in three years, as opposed to the forty years during which the Andalites hadn't stopped them. I figure that, if we do just as many crazy things as our parents did, we can do the same. I'm willing to bet on it." Darren said.

"Insanity can win wars." Laurie said.

"Insanity can also get people killed." Kendra said. "I personally have no intention of getting killed because of an insane idea."

"This isn't insane, and no one is going to get killed." I said firmly, confidently.

((Alex is right. We will all make it out alive.)) Aldrea said. ((Now, shall we head to the facility?))

"Not yet. We head out at 9:30. Just before we head out, I want everyone to take one of these Five Hour Energy drinks. We need to be alert, focused, and prepared for combat." I said, pulling out seven small bottles. "Until then, who's up for a game of cards?"

We spent the next forty-five minutes playing poker, betting Monopoly money instead of real money. Aldrea was doing so well that after a while there was a vote on whether or not to disqualify her for cheating. She stayed in the game, but eventually Darren won, beating her by a hair's breadth.

Finally, at 9:25, we put the cards away and got ready to head out. The seven of us began to morph to owl. Each morph is different. This time, for me, the eyes came first. The night lit up like searchlights were shining everywhere. I looked down at my arms as the feathers appeared, intricate tattooes tracing across my skin, then blossoming out of my skin into 3-D like a spreading fire. Next, I shrank. It wasn't like falling; it was more like the ground rushing up at you. I could feel my bones shifting, rearranging, my internal organs shifting around and shrinking with squishing noises. Then my feet turned into talons, and the beak burst out of my face.

I looked around at the others, who were all nearly finished morphing. When Jarad, who was lagging behind the rest, finished, I fluttered my wings. ((Okay, let's go.)) I said, taking off up into the air. The others followed, and we took off, heading toward the edge of town and Blackstar Technologies.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We landed a few blocks away from the facility, then demorphed before remorphing to fleas and hiding in Jeff's ear, getting in there as deeply as we could. We didn't want to take the chance that the Gleet BioFilters would pick up our DNA and register it as not being in the computer before killing us. Our parents had hidden in steers in a similar fashion once.

Jeff approached the facility; we heard him talking to one of the guards. I was resting on the eardrum at the time, and I was shaken around a bit. ((Everyone okay?)) I asked after Jeff had been admitted into the facility.

((Yeah.)) Jarad.

((A little shaken up, but okay.)) Kendra.

((Why did we have to hide in his ear again?)) Darren.

((I am well, Alex.)) Aldrea.

((Okay. Jeff, let us know when it's safe to emerge.)) I said.

About five minutes later, after being stopped a few more times while someone talked to Jeff, I felt a vibration as Jeff tugged on his ear to let us know it was safe. We jumped out onto his hand, then to the floor, where we began demorphing. When we finished, Jeff was already at the controls.

"Guys, get into your battle morphs and start taking out those coolant pipes. Just be careful; it's awfully cold stuff." he said.

"How'd it go? Did anyone suspect anything?" I asked before morphing to wolf.

"I don't think so. My Yeerk had high enough clearance that lower-ranking Yeerks tend to buy anything that comes out of his host's mouth. It's Vishnak 1357 I'm worried about, though; he's a smart one. If anyone can figure it out, it's him. I think I threw him off, though."

"Good. Now we just need to trash this place and get out without getting killed." I said. Jeff's news that someone might suspect that he wasn't telling the truth was disturbing, but I was determined not to let it get in the way.

We went to our battle morphs and began to attack the pipes. Jarad's polar bear was able to just rip the pipes out at the joints; the rest of us had to claw and bite through the metal. Jeff hadn't been kidding when he said that it was cold; after punching through a pipe with my teeth, I felt a blast of cold liquid enter my mouth. I fell backwards, then did one thing that you would never think a wolf would do: I puked, then realized that my muzzle was burning from how cold it had been.

((Jeff, what is this stuff?))

"I don't really know." Jeff said. I shrugged, which is actually pretty hard to do as a wolf, but I did it anyways. Just then, alarms started sounding.

"Okay, the overload's set. Without the coolant pipes, the only thing that can stop the overload is completely shutting down the core, which I've made impossible; I used my Yeerk's authorization codes to lock out all the other consoles, and I'm about to destroy this one. Also, I've uploaded a virus that's going to destroy the data just to make sure they can't start over." Jeff said. "We've got four minutes, twenty five seconds to get out of here."

((Hey, Jeff, what rank was your Yeerk?)) I asked.

"He was an Imperial Knight." Jeff said calmly.

((An Imperial Knight? Why did you not tell us this before?)) Aldrea asked.

((What's an Imperial Knight?)) Jarad asked. The rest of us echoed the question.

"I'll explain later. The most important thing at the moment is that we get out of here before this place blows sky high." Jeff said, then looked at a message that had popped up on the console. He swore under his breath, then entered two more commands into the console. The alarm went off, and a small passageway opened up in one of the walls.

"I've shut down all the security systems. Morph to fly, and then we are going to hightail it out of here through this escape passage. Alex, let Laurie know that we're going to be hitching a ride on her."

((What's with the sudden change of plans?)) I demanded.

"We've got trouble. More Imperial Knights. Old friends of my Yeerk. Fighting our way out past these guys is suicide. They're going to be here in just over a minute-and-a-half. Demorph, then remorph to fly. NOW!" he said, slamming his Hork-bajir blades into the console repeatedly. It sparked, then went dark. I looked at the others.

((Do it.)) I said, then switched to private thought-speak to Laurie. ((Change of plans. We're going to need a pickup.)) I said, already demorphing, focusing all my energy on demorphing as quickly as possible. As soon as I was fully human, I focused on fly and felt the changes begin immediately. As soon as I was ready, I darted toward the passageway, flying up it, the others close behind. As soon as we were out, I landed on Laurie, who was flying by at just that moment. Jeff landed beside me. As soon as everyone was on her, I yelled, ((Get us out of here!!))

She took off, and we were a significant distance away when there was a massive explosion. It lit up the night sky behind us so brightly that my fly vision was overwhelmed. I swear that we even felt the shockwave.

((Jeff, what exactly was that power core?)) Aldrea asked.

((An experimental device that draws energy from Zero-Space. The odds are that everything within about 300 yards of the blast was vaporized instantly when it exploded.))

((Jeff, are you saying that we may have destroyed things that we didn't have to?)) I asked.

((You have to expect collateral damage in war.)) Jeff said simply.

((There could have been innocent people caught in the explosion!)) Kendra exclaimed.

((Necessary casualties.)) Jeff said. ((Which is more important: keeping every advantage we can from the Yeerks, or a few lives?))

((We just murdered a lot of people.)) Kendra said.

((Actually, there really weren't that many people around. I'd say, counting the non-Controllers, only a hundred humans were killed.))

((That doesn't change the fact that we killed them.)) Kendra said.

After that, we lapsed into silence until we landed at the barn and began to demorph.

"Okay, Jeff, there are some things you need to explain. First, what's an Imperial Knight?" I said once I had finished demorphing.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jeff spoke. "The Imperial Knights are an order deep within the ranks of the Yeerks. They are raised from the time they are grubs to believe that the Yeerk Empire is supreme and they are trained to do whatever they have to in the service of the Empire. They're total fanatics. They are raised in groups of 100, with no contact between the groups. That way, each Knight only knows the names of 100 other Knights. They-"

"Wait. You just said they were raised in groups of 100, so they should only know the names of 99 other Knights." I interjected.

"They also know the name of their leader, Sevrak 434. He's the only Knight that everyone knows the name of, and the only one, besides the Emperor, who knows the names of all the Knights. After being raised, the groups are evaluated to see if they are ready for Knighthood. If even one Yeerk doesn't pass, none of the others in the group become Knights either. When they reach Knighthood, their identification, when they need to present it, only contains their rank, not their name. Their names are closely guarded secrets. Sevrak, however, let his name be known so that the Andalites would have a face to fear, something to associate with the Knights besides faceless killers. The Knight heirarchy is like this: The Knights are all on one level, then there's Sevrak above them, then the Emperor above him. The Knights answer only to Sevrak, and Sevrak, in turn, answers only to the Emperor himself. The Knights have clearance to do whatever they want within the Empire. They can go anywhere, do anything."

"Wow. That's crazy." Darren said.

"Anything else we should know?" I asked.

"Yeah. Those who become hosts to Knights are chosen at birth, stolen from their parents, and raised in much the same way, only they are raised to believe that becoming a host to a Yeerk is the highest honor. That whole story about my dad leaving and my mom kicking me out, that's total BS. A cover story." Even before the words were entirely out of his mouth, Aldrea's tailblade was at his throat.

((Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you now, scum.)) She hissed.

"It's true that we're voluntaries, but my encounter with the monster eye and the glowing man showed my the truth. I would sooner die than let a Yeerk back into my head. But there is a bonus to being host to a Knight: You actually get control half the time, except during missions of the utmost importance. The Knights believe that trusting the host is important. They really don't have anything to fear since the hosts are just as obedient as the Yeerks."

"Okay, that is weird. The Yeerks have started to kidnap babies and raise them to become hosts?" Darren said.

"Only the Knights do that. The rest of the Yeerks don't believe that taking years to raise hosts is worth it."

((Why should I believe you? You've already admitted that you were a voluntary.)) Aldrea said.

"He was raised from a baby to follow the Yeerks. Being brainwashed to believe something doesn't count as voluntary." I said.

"Hey, I've got a question. If you were kidnapped as a baby, then how come the background check didn't show you as missing?" Darren asked.

"The Yeerks developed cloning technology. They simply cloned me and put the clone in my place with my parents. Look, I'm telling you the truth. I'm not on their side anymore." Jeff said. Just then, my mom stuck her head in the door of the barn. Aldrea, seeing this, immediately jerked her tail away from Jeff's throat.

"Jeff, your cell phone's ringing." she said, walking toward Jeff, a ringing cell phone in her hand. Jeff took it, looked at the number, and then looked up, a startled expression on his face.

"I've got to answer it." he said, hurrying to the barn door, then outside, opening the phone and saying, "Hello." before he got out of earshot.

"Did I interrupt something? I could've sworn that I saw Aldrea move her tailblade from Jeff's throat just as I walked in." Mom asked.

((We were simply messing around.)) Aldrea said. ((Nothing serious.))

"Okay. Well, I'll be back inside." Mom said, then left.

A few minutes later, Jeff walked back in, grimacing. "We have a problem." he said, his voice grim.

"What?" I asked.

"That was one of the other Knights. One of my Yeerk's friends. He says that someone infiltrated and destroyed Blackstar Tech. One of them had morphed me."

"That's not a problem." Kendra said.

"There's more. He said that the Yeerks were able to salvage the oatmeal research. Their Knight override codes managed to unlock one console long enough to back all the information up onto a portable computer before the explosion. They also managed to save all the scientists. Their orders are to begin again at another location. I'm supposed to be there tomorrow. Mandatory check-in for all Knights operating within the area. If I'm not there, they'll send people out to look for me."

"Well, it's obvious that we have to go. We have to destroy that research for good." Darren said.

"What are we going to do? I seriously doubt that we'll be able to trash the place as easily as Blackstar Tech; they'll be expecting an attack." I said.

"We don't have to attack the place. I get you guys in as guests, we get to the computer, and then we delete all the data. A simple get-in, get-out procedure. We probably won't even have to morph. However, I'd have to stay away from the computer room while you guys actually destroyed the data. That way, if someone catches you guys, I can say I had no idea you were planning it and that you acted alone, without my help. As long as I have a position within the Yeerks, I can get you guys information on where to attack them. If the Yeerks find out I've been compromised, they'll reinfest me, get all the information about you guys, and then go after you. We'll then be executed as slowly and painfully as possible. But that won't happen." Jeff said.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Let's put it to a vote." Kendra suggested. I nodded.

"A vote. All in favor of risking it?"

"We have to try." Jeff said.

"I don't see any other options." Darren said.

"Why not? More Yeerk butt to kick, that's all it is." Jarad said.

((We must at least try. If the Yeerks succeed, they will no longer need Pools, which will be a great advantage to them. We cannot let them have that advantage.)) Aldrea said.

"As long as we don't have to kill anyone." Kendra said.

"I'm in." Laurie said.

"Okay, that makes it unanimous. Tomorrow, we head in there and trash the data. Try not to get into any fights unless necessary." I said.

The next day, I got a call from Darren.

"Dude, turn on the TV. Blackstar Tech's destruction made the morning news." He said.

I turned on the news and, sure enough, the main topic was the destruction of Blackstar Technologies due to what their sources told them was an accidental overload of its main power core due to improper maintenance.

That night, at about 7:30, we met in the barn again. "Okay, guys, here's the deal. Once we're in, there's going to be a brief meeting with Sevrak while I check in with him, then we'll be free to do whatever we want. We head to the computer afterwards and trash the data files." Jeff said, sketching out a rough model of the building on the holoprojector.

At 8:00, we were heading to the location where the research was being restarted, a company called Ardam Industries. Jeff had pointed out how 'Ardam' was just 'Madra' backwards. Madra was the moon of the Yeerk homeworld.

Aldrea was in human morph so as not to arouse suspicion. When we reached the building, we were stopped at the front gate. Jeff presented his identification, and the guard nodded, then said that the rest of us had to identify ourselves as well.

"They're in the company of a Knight. Do you really want word to reach your superiors that you are questioning the judgement of a Knight. These people are my guests. I'll vouch for them. Now let us through before I have you charged with treason and sentenced to death."

The guard immediately apologized, he had not meant to offend a Knight, it was simply standard operating procedure to require all people entering or leaving the building to present identification, and that we should continue on our way.

"I understand. You are simply following orders. No need to apologize." Jeff said, then we walked into the building. Jeff entered a code into the elevator, and we went down, deep underground. When the elevator doors opened, there were several guards standing there. Jeff again presented his identification and vouched for us, then continued to another room. Inside, there were two large Javrakari and three massive Hork-Bajir on either side of a chair. In the chair was a large, muscular African-American male dressed in what at first looked like blue cloth robes, but on closer inspection appeared to be robes made of blue fur. Tied to his left forearm was what appeared to be a blade. Around his neck was a necklace. Attached to the necklace were several long, blue tendrils that ended in orbs with the orbs pointing downward. The orbs were white with a band of color in the center, then a black dot inside that band. In addition, each orb seemed to be set into the blue material.

I heard Aldrea draw in a breath and gasp. With a sickening sensation, I realized what the man was wearing. The robes were made from the skins of Andalites, the blade tied to his arm was an Andalite tail-blade, and the necklace was made from the stalk-eyes of Andalites.

The man spoke. His voice commanded authority, forced us to listen. "Kezran Six-Eight-Nine, it is good to see you again. Tell me, who are your companions?"

Jeff spoke. "Great Lord Sevrak, my companions are fellow Yeerks. Each of them is morph-capable and trustworthy."

"What are their names?" Sevrak asked.

Jeff pointed at each of us in turn. "Great Lord, they are Vekna Three-Two-Six, Makal Two-Three-Five-Seven, Hedran Three-Six-Nine, Creft Eight-Six-Three-Zero, Telkar Nine-Eight-Two, and Graltan Five-Zero-Six."

"They are your latest 'project,' I assume? Yeerks you are training outside of official records?"

"That is correct, Great Lord." Jeff said.

"Very well, but, should they prove undeserving of the trust you have in them, they will be executed, and you alongside them."

"I understand, Great Lord. I thank you for trusting my judgement."

"One who does not trust his subordinates is undeserving of the title 'Knight.' I trust all those who follow me. They are, after all, my body. My eyes, my ears, my hands, my will incarnate. If a man cannot trust his body, who, then, can he trust?" With this, Sevrak laughed, a deep, booming noise that sent shivers down my spine as the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few hundred degrees. There was nothing light-hearted about the laugh. It was evil, malicious, the most inhuman thing I had ever heard. It scared the crap out of me and gave me the impression that he would kill someone just to watch them die. I knew then that Sevrak was insane. Insane and evil. He would be a greater enemy than even Esplin 9466. I silently prayed that we would never have to fight him.

"Thank you, Great Lord." Jeff said."What is my next assignment?"

"You are being considered for promotion to the rank of Visser-Knight." Sevrak said.

"My lord, there is no such rank." Jeff said.

"There shall soon be. As one of my most promising followers, it is only fitting that you be granted a higher rank. The Emperor and I have discussed this in great detail. This would give you power over Yeerks under Esplin's command while not placing you under the command of the Supreme Visser. However, we wish to give you one final test, and the rank is yours. You shall even be given your own ship as a symbol of the power you shall have. It shall be built purely for your exclusive use."

"Great Lord, I am deeply honored that you would grant me this new rank and the chance to prove myself worthy of it. What is my task?"

"There is a group of young Yeerks that are close to achieving Knighthood. Their graduation mission is to reach a hidden ship created by the Kalmra, the same species that created the Javrakari. The Kalmra placed much technology on this ship, which they hid here on this planet. Somehow, they have masked it so that sensors cannot detect it. An ancient Kalmra outpost had a functioning computer that gave a general idea of its location. This group is to find and retrieve that ship. The Emperor wishes for you to lead them."

"Why me, Great Lord? There are many other Knights who could lead this mission just as easily, if not more so."

"The Emperor and I both wish to see you promoted to this new rank so that someone can keep the Supreme Visser in check. The entire Council of Thirteen is growing tired of the Supreme Visser's total command and would wish to see someone have the authority to challenge him. They cannot simply demote him, so they have figured out the next best way to limit his command: give someone else equal command powers. You would be, in essence, a 'speed bump' that could counter the Supreme Visser's sometimes stupid decisions."

"I see. My promotion is simply a way of preventing Esplin from making a decision that could ruin this war."

"That is part of it. However, we were also going by who should rightfully be promoted. It was either yourself or Teryon Five-Four-Six. Unfortunately, she was killed yesterday. Last night, when Blackstar Technologies was broken into and destroyed, an insignificant subordinate panicked and attempted to fight his way to the exit. She attempted to stop him, and he used his Hork-Bajir blades to slice her open and leave the building. He is currently undergoing Kandrona starvation for killing a superior."

Jeff gasped, and his jaw dropped. "Teryon is dead?" he asked incredulously. "But she was not even assigned to Blackstar Technologies, Great Lord."

"She was on a random inspection and staying at the living area. When it was broken into, she and Merzan Six-Eight-Seven-Five were already there. That is how they were able to save the research before the facility was destroyed. I regret that Teryon and her host were killed saving something that was not worth the life of a Knight. I don't care if the Supreme Visser considers that oatmeal research important; you and the other Knights are my family, my sons, my daughters, parts of my soul. Maybe not biologically, but I still feel that all Knights are my children, and nothing is worth a Knight's life. I understand that you and Teryon shared a close bond."

"It is true that we were close, Great Lord. Our hosts also shared a close bond. The news of their death is shocking. I never thought that they would die before me." Jeff said. "Why did Zerkan not notify me last night when he contacted me?"

"He did not inform you because I felt that it would be best if the news came from me. Now, please leave and find something else to do. See if the scientists require anything. Just go." Sevrak said. Jeff nodded, then turned and motioned for us to follow him. Once we were out of sight of the room, I looked at Jeff.

"Sevrak's an . . . interesting character." I said.

"Sevrak's a barbarian. Did you see what he was wearing? Those were Andalite body parts." Kendra said indignantly. "He's wearing parts of dead people on his body."

"Sevrak displays his trophies with pride. He considers it right to take something from a a defeated enemy. There's a reason the Andalites call him the Demon Lord." Jeff said, a note of what I took to be sorrow in his voice.

I looked at Aldrea. "Why do Andalites call him the Demon Lord?"

"The reason the Andalites call him the Demon Lord is because, when the Knights first formed in the beginning of the first Yeerk War, he slaughtered the crew of a captured Andalite scout ship. He broadcast it to every telecommunications channel on the Andalite Homeworld. He skinned them alive with a heated blade so that they wouldn't bleed to death, and he kept them from going into shock so that they felt the whole thing. Then he tortured them for hours before finally killing them one by one. He told us that the Knights could be anyone, be anywhere, and to fear him, because he was the face of death and the Knights were his body. All Andalites are shown the recording to show them how vicious and evil the Yeerks are. He is the most vile, corrupt, evil Yeerk the Andalites know of. Many Andalites have sworn to kill him. None have. All that's left of them are whatever little pieces of their bodies he's cut off and saved." Aldrea said, disgust, hatred, and anger dripping from her voice.

"We've got a problem. Sevrak wants me to head to some godforsaken part of the world in search of this ship. There's no way we can hide my absence from your parents, Alex." Jeff said, the sorrow still in his voice.

"We'll think of something." I said confidently, putting a hand on Jeff's shoulder.

"So, this Yeerk, this Teryon Five-Whatever, was your friend?" Darren asked.

"Yes, not that that's any business of yours. However, since you asked, I might as well tell you. Her host, Valeria, was also my friend. We were probably the closest of all the Knights. We'd always thought that, once we'd reached an appropriate age, we'd become more than friends. Happy now?" Jeff snapped harshly.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you this upset. I didn't know how much a stupid Yeerk meant to you." Darren shot back, the last sentence dripping with sarcasm.

"She was more than a 'stupid Yeerk,' you arrogant, selfish, dim-witted, disgraceful, insensitive, son of a whore dapsen! She was my only true friend. And it wasn't just the Yeerk that was my friend; it was the girl the Yeerk lived in! The next time you insult someone I care about, I will kill you as slowly and painfully as possible, and believe me, I know how to torture someone before killing them; Sevrak teaches all Knights the art of torture. One wrong word, and you are dead. Do you understand me?" Jeff yelled.

Darren back up, surprised. "Geez, man, do you have to get violent?" he asked, raising his hands in defeat and backing away slowly.

"I don't like it when someone talks the wrong way about people I care about." Jeff said, staring at Darren, then looking down the hallway at two Controllers that had stopped and stared. "What are you two looking at?" he snapped, and the Controllers immediately headed off.

"Guys, the last thing we need to do is draw attention to ourselves like that." I said. "If you want to fight, wait until we're out of here."

"Okay. Just tell Darren that he'd better watch his mouth if he doesn't want to wake up dead." Jeff said, his anger barely contained.

"Darren, you heard him. Stop talking about it." I said, then looked at Jeff. "Where do we go?" I asked.

"Just follow me." Jeff said. "Remember, I've got to maintain my cover, I'll show you guys the way and how to operate the computer terminal, then I'm going to head to the other side of the building and let you guys handle it. Morph as soon as you're done; you'll probably have to fight your way out since, in all likelyhood, they've put some security measures in place that'll sound an alarm if large amounts of data are deleted."

"Jeff, before we headed here, you said we wouldn't have to fight our way out." I said. "Why are you lying about so many things?"

"If I told you the truth before you agreed to these crazy stunts, you wouldn't agree to them." Jeff said.

Kendra looked at Jeff. "Why should we trust you if all you're going to do is hide important things from us?" she said venomously.

"Because I'm telling you what you need to know when you need to know it." Jeff said.

"Again, can you hold off on the fighting until we're out of here?" I asked exasperatedly. "We have a mission to accomplish."

"Okay. Let's just get to the computer terminal." Jeff said, heading down the hallway. We followed him through a twisting, turning maze of corridors until we reached a set of sealed metal doors.

"Inside these doors is the sole computer terminal that controls data storage." Jeff said, pulling out a small notepad. "All the codes and instructions are on here." He said, handing it to me.

"Okay. Now get out of here and make sure you have an alibi." I said, then looked at the notepad and began typing a code into the keypad by the door. It opened up and we walked inside. Jeff headed off towards the other side of the building.

Once inside, I noticed a large console in the center of the room. I walked over to it, then looked again at the notepad and began entering more codes. Before I entered the final code, I looked at the others.

"Start morphing. If Jeff's right, we need to be ready to fight our way out." I said. The others began morphing, the grotesque changes making them hard to look at. Once they were all done, I typed in the final code to destroy the data and began to morph to wolf just before I hit the 'enter' key. Sure enough, alarms started to sound. I morphed as quickly as I could, then barreled out the door, heading through the maze of hallways toward the exit.

Just then, two Javrakari turned the corner, running toward us. Aldrea struck out with her Andalite tail, but, much to our surprise, the Javrakari actually caught the blade with its single semi-normal hand, then slashed out with the blade-edged clamp-claw. It cut deep into her flank, and then Darren lashed out in his Komodo dragon form, slashing with claws and teeth at the one that had hurt Aldrea. It knocked him aside with ease. I launched myself at the other one, latching onto its neck with my teeth and trying to rip its throat out. The only reason I succeeded was because I had a firm grip on its neck when it hurled me away. I could feel the blood soaking into my muzzle. It caused an itching, slightly burning sensation. I spat the throat out, then looked at the Javrakari, expecting to see it lying on the ground, dead. To my surprise, it was still standing. It raised on of its lower hands, which ended in what looked like a metal cylinder with a glowing energy bar on it. A blast of energy launched outward, hitting Darrren's polar bear and burning a hole into his flank. Aldrea had sliced her way free of the first Javrakari, and had proceeded to slice its head off. We then ganged up on the second Javrakari, taking turns attacking it.

TSEEW!! A blast from a Dracon beam lanced over my head, hitting Aldrea, who faltered for a second, permitting the Javrakari to slice one of her stalk eyes off. She was beginning to slow down from the poison the Javrakari's blade had. The next Dracon beam hit Jarad, who had barely managed to stagger back onto his feet. I turned my attention to the source of the energy blasts, a Hork-Bajir-Controller. I launched myself at him, followed by Jarad. We took it down, then looked at the others.

FWAPP! Aldrea's tailblade bit deep into the Javrakari's neck, She pulled it out and moved again.

FWAPP!

FWAPP!

FWAPP! The Javrakari's head finally detached, and its body slumped to the ground. We turned and ran again, dodging even more enemies, fighting when necessary. Fortunately, we didn't run into any more Javrakari. I looked at Aldrea, who was barely keeping up because of her wounds.

((Morph, Aldrea! You'll die if you don't)) I yelled in thought-speak.

((After we're safe. I'd slow you down if I demorphed now.)) Aldrea said weakly.

((You're already slowing us down. Morph!)) I yelled desperately. Aldrea was staggering even slower, swaying from side to side. I checked on Jarad, who had caught his second wind and was lumbering along beside us.

((Not yet!)) Aldrea replied.

((Then get on Jarad's back and demorph there!))

Aldrea seemed to consider this for a second, then complied. She began to morph to kafit bird, and I smiled as the exit came into sight. We barged out into the night, running as quickly as we could.

I led us into a parking garage, up the ramp to the highest level, then looked at everyone. ((Okay, guys, demorph, then morph to owl.)) I said, already beginning to demorph. The others followed suit. I could tell Aldrea was getting exhausted from the demorphing and remorphing she'd done. She'd had to morph to human then demorph from human, morph to kafit, and now demorph back to Andalite and remorph to owl, all in under half an hour. We were all feeling similarly fatigued from the stress of such rapid morphing.

When we were all morphed, I took off, leading us first toward the woods, through them, and then out again a few miles away, at which point we headed back toward my house. When we arrived, I noticed Jeff standing in front of the barn door. I saw his smile turn into a frown, then watched as he slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew an energy weapon of some kind. He took aim and fired . . . up at us.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I dodged, then watched the beam lance into another owl. I heard a thought-speak scream as it vaporized. I did a quick check, and noticed that everyone was still there. Jeff aimed again, firing at three more owls trailing behind us, taking them out in rapid succession before they could cry for help.

((What the heck were those other owls?)) I asked in thought-speak as I landed.

"Next time, Make sure you aren't being followed, because next time I might not be able to get here in time to stop them before they can give away that this is our meeting area." He said stiffly, pocketing the energy weapon.

I began to demorph. I noticed that Aldrea was taking the longest, and I began to worry that she didn't have the strength to demorph.

"Come on, Aldrea. You can do it." I said urgently, crouching beside her and putting a hand on what I assumed was her shoulder. "Focus on being an Andalite. Don't give out on me now!" I said, then continued to say encouraging things as Aldrea ever so slowly demorphed. Finally, after what seemed like five minutes, she was a full Andalite again. She smiled with her eyes before collapsing into unconsciouness from sheer exhaustion.

The next day, Saturday, I headed out to the barn, where we'd made Aldrea as comfortable as we could while she slept. I walked over to her, then knelt beside her. "Are you awake?" I whispered.

One of her stalk eyes cracked open. When she saw me, she groaned in thought-speech.

((How long have I been out?)) she asked.

"Close to fourteen hours. That constant morphing really took a toll. I won't make you go through that ordeal again. I'm sorry I did." I said.

((If I had not morphed and demorphed so much, I would not have lived. Your pushing me to morph and demorph saved my life. There is nothing to apologize for. Thank you for permitting me to rest here.)) she said, getting unsteadily to her feet.

"Okay. Let's get you out of here. I think the Andalite military base is wondering where you are right now." I said, helping her walk to the door of the barn and out. She morphed to kafit bird and flew off. I went back into the house.

Up in my room, I was going through a list of various battles to try and figure out which one I would reenact differently this time. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." I said. The door opened, and Jeff walked in.

"Hey, man." He said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Sevrak contacted me. Apparently, the Supreme Visser is asking questions about the destruction of all the oatmeal research. He even went so far as to accuse Sevrak of ordering the destruction of the data so as to make the Supreme Visser look bad. Sevrak wants to know if I know anything about the destruction of the research. He says that circumstances are suspicious. Someone apparently morphed me to get into Blackstar Technologies. That same person used my access codes to trigger the self-destruct and try to destroy the data. Then, last night, a group of people infiltrated our other complex at Ardam Industries and used Knight access codes to delete all the data about the oatmeal research. He says that I'm on temporary suspension of duty until such time as the investigation reveals I had nothing to do with it. Sevrak regrets having to take me off-duty, but the Emperor wishes to please Esplin so that the pompous, arrogant Andalite-lover will stop trying to breathe down Sevrak's neck." Jeff said.

"I see. What else is there?" I asked.

"I'm supposed to go in for questioning. Several Knights, including Sevrak, are going to be there to keep Esplin from getting too violent while I'm being questioned." Jeff said.

"Well, good luck." I said.

"You guys are also supposed to come in. Someone said they saw you guys near the room, and so you're under suspicion. The one thing that could save us if the fact that there actually aren't any security cameras in the area; the Yeerks are confident that nothing could get into the building undetected, so they don't bother much with internal security. There'd be no proof that we were near the terminal. In fact, I made holographic projections of you guys with me so that the people who saw me also saw you guys. The logical conclusion is that people used morphing technology to impersonate you guys to try and cast doubt on me. Hopefully the Supreme Visser reaches that same conclusion."

"What time do we need to go in?" I asked.

"Three hours from now." Jeff said.

"Hey, Jeff, I've got a question: could you rig our morph-log chips to give us Class Five Unlimited clearance? We were hard-pressed to take on those Javrakari; Aldrea and Jarad nearly got killed. We need alien morphs."

"I'll do it. I just need a computer equipped with a wireless uplink unit to tap into the chips' processors." Jeff said. "Just let the others know about the questioning."

"I'll call them and let them know. Why don't you go let Kendra know?" I said, pulling out my cell phone and typing in Jarad's cell phone number as Jeff left. After letting Jarad know, I told him to tell Laurie and then call Darren and let him know. Next, I contacted Aldrea to let her know.

((We have to go in for questioning at the hands of the Supreme Visser? Does Jeff seriously think we'll live through that?)) she asked.

"Several Knights are going to be there to restrain him and make sure there is no permanent damage done, which pretty much just means he won't kill us since morphing would render any severe injuries moot points." I said. "Sevrak alone looks like he could handle three full-grown Hork-Bajir by himself. We're not going to die."

((I trust you, but I must ask if you have any idea of how big of a risk this is. The chances that one of us would crack under the torture are substantial.))

"The Yeerks will just get more suspicious if we don't show up. However, if we do show up, that will make them think we don't have anything to hide. The others are coming here so that we can get a story straight."

((Very well.)) Aldrea said, then signed off.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Two-and-a-half hours later, we were all in the barn, sitting and talking. I had managed to get a computer equipped with a wireless uplink unit so that he could hack the morph-log chips and mess with our clearance levels. I was sitting on a chair as Jeff sat beside me, tinkering with the computer. A few seconds later, there was a beeping sound, and he looked up.

"Okay, Alex, you're set." he said, motioning for Darren to come up.

"I still think this is crazy." he said, standing and walking over. "Do you guys even know the penalty for faking morph clearance? Five years in a maximum-security prison, removal of morphing abilities, and a fine of $50,000."

"Which option is better: saving the planet and risking getting a criminal record, or not saving the world and getting enslaved by evil parasites?" I asked.

"That's not fair. When you put it that way, it suddenly sounds ridiculous to not risk a criminal record in the name of saving the Earth." Darren said, sitting down next to Jeff as I sat down where he'd been sitting.

"What sort of morphs are you going to get?" Jarad asked.

"Hork-Bajir at least, maybe one of those Javrakari if I can touch one for long enough. Those energy weapons looked lethal, and that lightning generator seems like it would be awesome."

"Would a morph even have that energy weapon and that electroshock emitter? Those looked mechanical." Kendra said.

"A morph would have those weapons; the Kalmra were so good at genetic engineering that they could make an organic thing be genetically programmed to develop mechanical components. I don't actually have a Javrakari morph, but a few other Knights do." Jeff said as he typed away at the computer.

"We need alien morphs; they're going to be able to do a lot more damage than Earth animals." Jarad said.

I looked at the others. "Okay, guys, do we have our story straight? We got lost and separated from Jeff, then used the main computer to pull up a map of the facility and find our way to Jeff. We left the area, met up with Jeff, left the building, and then someone else must have gotten in and deleted the data."

"Yeah, we've got it." Laurie said.

Aldrea cantered in. Dhe'd been feeding outside trying to get her strength back; just rest hadn't been quite enough to recover from the rapid-fire morphing of the night before. As she walked in, I noticed a few cuts of varying sizes on her legs and flank.

"What happened?" I asked.

((I fell into some thorny bushes. Nothing serious.)) she said, shifting almost imperceptibly in place. I looked again at the cuts. Some of them were too big to have been caused by thorns, and some of them looked like bite marks. My eyes drifted to her tail, which I noticed had some blood on it. When she saw where I was looking, she immediately shifted to hide her tail from view.

"Aldrea, what really happened?" I asked, voice hardening.

((I . . . I was attacked. By a group of wolves. I accidentally let my guard down, and they attacked me. I think they were morph-capable Yeerks; one of them managed to get off what sounded like a thought-speech scream out before I dispatched it.)) She said, beginning to morph to get rid of the injuries.

"Aldrea, the Yeerks are going to notice a group of their own going missing." I said. "We can't draw attention to this area."

"No, the Yeerks won't notice. That was a patrol party. They go missing all the time; amateur Yeerks get stuck on patrol duty, lose control of the morphs, and attack things that they don't have a chance against, like feeding Andalites," Jeff said casually. "One more missing patrol won't make a difference. Nothing to worry about."

"You're sure?" I asked.

"I'm positive. Wolves are the main patrol morph for groups; lone wolves are a lot more suspicious than packs of them." Jeff said, then the computer beeped again.

"Okay, Darren, you're done. Next!" Jeff called. Darren got up and sat down on an empty cage as Laurie walked up and sat down.

Fifteen minutes later, after letting my parents know we'd be out for a while, we morphed to birds and headed to Ardam Industries. When we got there, we demorphed and went through security, then headed down the elevator. When we reached the bottom floor of the underground area, we were led to a dropshaft and sent down even further. When we emerged from the dropshaft, I realized we were in the Yeerk Pool complex. Jeff walked confidently to a building along the side of the Pool, and we followed. When we entered, a pair of Javrakari guards and four Hork-Bajir took up positions alongside us as we were led into separate holding rooms. I reached out and carefully touched the Javrakari next to me. It glared at me, then slipped into the acquisition trance that most animals lapse into when you acquire them.

When I wasn't placed in one of the holding areas, and was instead led into an interrogation room, I knew I was going first. The Supreme Visser walked in. I knew it was him by the way he held himself. Haughty, arrogant, confident . . . and intending to cause severe physical injuries in the course of getting the answers he wanted. He was followed closely by several obvious bodyguards, then by people I could tell were Knights from the fact that Sevrak led them.

The Supreme Visser sat down in front of me. "So, Vekna Three-Two-Six, do you understand why you are here?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I understand that I'm under investigation as a suspect in the case of who deleted the oatmeal research data." I responded coolly. "Is there another reason I'm here that I haven't been informed of?"

Esplin's hand shot outward, smashing into the side of my head. I felt an explosion of pain radiate from the side of my head. I raised my hand to the side of my head and felt blood.

"Keep talking like that, and I'll cut your throat out. Do you understand?" The Supreme Visser said.

"I understand, Supreme Visser."

"Now, let us start at the beginning. Were you at Ardam Industries last night?"

"I was." I answered.

"Were you at the computer terminal at any point during your stay?"

"I was."

"Then you admit that you were responsible for the destruction of the data!" Esplin said.

"I have said no such thing, Supreme Visser. I merely said I was at the computer terminal. Don't put words in my mouth." I said, then immediately regretted it as the Supreme Visser's fist slammed into my face again.

The next fifteen minutes consisted mostly of me relating my story and Esplin trying to beat a confession out of me. Finally, Sevrak reached out a hand and placed it on the Visser's shoulder.

"I believe he is telling the truth, Esplin. There is no point trying to beat him into confessing." he said icily. "Let us see what the next ones have to say." Sevrak said.

Esplin nodded. "Very well." he said reluctantly. "But if I even suspect the others of lying, you will not be able to stop me from causing even more bodily harm to them."

"Perhapsss Sssevrak cannot, but I can." A new voice, low, gravelly, and dragging the 's' sounds out, said as a figure walked into the room. I was surprised to see that it was a Javrakari.

"Inspector Haldlack Five-Seven-Eight-Eight Primary, I was under the impression that you would not intervene in my interrogation." the Supreme Visser, or SV, as I was starting to think of him, said stonily.

"After sseeing how violent you have been with thiss ssuspect, I have decided that it iss in their livess' bessst interessstss for me to be here to prevent you from causssing extreme harm." the Inspector said, then looked at me. "Morph and be rid of thossse ridiculousssly numerousss injuriesss." he said.

I took stock of my injuries. My arm was broken, I was bleeding from numerous gashes caused by the SV's fingernails, and I could feel several bruises forming. I morphed to seagull, then demorphed and was led from the room and into a holding cell. A while later, I was released and met up with the others as we were led from the building and back to the dropshaft to head back to the surface.

When we left Ardam Industries and headed back to the barn, I looked at the others. "How'd it go?" I asked.

((It was painful.)) Aldrea said. She'd managed to avoid being discovered as an Andalite when she demorphed to get rid of the injuries by explaining that she'd managed to acquire an Andalite morph. They hadn't questioned her explanation.

"The next time we have to do this, I fully reserve the right to pound you and your crazy ideas into the ground, Jeff." Laurie said.

"That's understandable." Jeff said.

"It was insane! Walking right into enemy territory where they could have infested us?" Darren said.

"They already believed we had Yeerks in our heads; we were in no danger of being infested." Jeff replied.

"Can you two please not get into a fight?" Kendra asked.

"Yeah. The last thing we need is for you two to go at it again." Laurie said. Jarad nodded.

"We really need to work together on this. We can't be getting into fights amongst ourselves if we want to stand a chance of defeating the Yeerks and saving the whole freakin' planet." he said.

I looked at the others that made up our motley little group of friends. "Guys, you know those Javrakari? Well, I acquired one of them. I'm going to try it out. Jeff, are the Javrakari instinctually violent?"

"Yes. However, the instincts are easily suppressed so long as you don't get overwhelmed, according to those who do have Javrakari morphs. However, I feel I should morph to Hork-Bajir in case you lose control. Aldrea, you should probably remain an Andalite. The two of us could probably handle him. The rest of you should go into battle morphs. A Javrakari on a rampage is very hard to stop."

With that, he began to morph Hork-Bajir. The others followed suit, going into their own battle morphs. When the six of them were ready, I nodded, then said, "Here goes nothing." and concentrated on the Javrakari DNA. I began to morph.

When I finished morphing, the instincts set in, and I found myself overwhelmed. I looked at the others, assessing the situation. The lizard-like quadrupedal creature could be a friend, but the massive, bladed bipedal lizard was a threat. The blue-furred mammalian quadruped with the tail would have to be removed first. Then the others could be set upon and devoured at my leisure. I aimed my energy weapon at the creature a small part of my brain recognized as an Andalite. Suddenly, a voice cut into my thoughts.

((Alex, it's me, Aldrea. Do you remember me?))

That voice stirred recognition in a small part of my brain. I prepared to fire, then hesitated. I nodded slightly.

((That's good. I need you to lower the weapon and calm down. Can you do that?)) the voice asked.

I suddenly regained control and realized I had been about to vaporize one of my best friends. I lowered the weapon, then began to demorph. As soon as I was fully human, I looked at the others. "I'm sorry about that. I wasn't expecting the instincts to be so strong."

((It is okay, Alex. You did not actually cause any of us physical harm.)) Aldrea said

"Next time, we all need to go Hork-Bajir when you practice." Jeff said. "I haven't seen the Javrakari yet that is stupid enough to take on six Hork-Bajir."

Aldrea nodded, then looked at the others. ((I believe I should leave now; it is time for me to return to the Andalite military base.)) she said, heading to the barn door and leaving.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The next day, I was out in the barn taking care of some of the sick or injured animals we kept there. Jeff walked in, cell phone in hand.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I just got off the phone with Sevrak. Apparently, the Visser doesn't think we're innocent. However, the Council of Thirteen is convinced, and so we're in the clear. I'm supposed to leave in two weeks for the mission to locate that Kalmra ship. I also learned that Koram Five-Eight-Three, the Yeerk in charge of the oatmeal project, is being executed for incompetence since he couldn't save the data.

"However, there's one other thing: The oatmeal project actually yielded what may be a viable sample of the modified Kandrona-replacement chemicals. Teryon and Merzan, the two Knights on a random inspection of Blackstar Tech, managed to save it. They Yeerks are going to be testing it tonight since they no longer have the data. We have to destroy that sample or the Yeerks will be able to replicate it. Odds are that they've put their observations back into the computer. We'd probably have to destroy the whole facility, like we did with Blackstar Tech."

I sighed. "Let me call the others." I said, pulling out my cell phone, then looking at Jeff. "Hey, where exactly do Knights stay?"

"Well, the ones on Earth live in special quarters in the Yeerk Pool complex of the area where they're assigned."

"Then why hasn't Sevrak gotten suspicious since you haven't been there in a while?"

"It's not uncommon for Knights to disappear for weeks at a time; no one really minds so long as we report back when ordered." Jeff said.

"Okay. Hey, could you get Kendra and tell her there's going to be a meeting in one hour?" I said, beginning to scroll down the list of numbers on my cell phone to contact the others. It was a very new model that incorporated a thought-speech converter and a holographic interface, which made it a lot easier to contact Aldrea. I hit the number for Jarad's cell, then waited as it rang.

Finally, Jarad picked up. "Hey, Alex. How's it going?"

"It's going okay. Look, we've got some trouble. I need you to get Laurie and meet me at the barn in one hour."

"Okay, but this had better be important; I'm supposed to head over to Kayla Peters' house to help her study for a math test."

"Jarad, I hate to break it to you, but Kayla Peters has a boyfriend and isn't interested in you. Tell her something important came up and you can't make it, and then head over here so we can talk about our attempts to save the Earth." I said, then hung up. I called the others and let them know, saving Aldrea for last. When I got transferred to Aldrea's connection, the holographic transmission showed that she seemed sweaty and somewhat tired.

"Aldrea, did I interrupt something?" I asked.

((I was out practicing, that is all.)) she said. ((Commander Gandal-Folorin-Quintas was simply showing me some intersting tail-fighting moves he was developing. I assume that whatever you have to tell me is more important.))

"You're right. I just need you to meet me in one hour at the barn; there's something important we need to discuss about what we've been doing recently."

((I will be there as soon as I can.)) Aldrea said, then cut the transmission. I hung up, and then went back to taking care of the animals.

An hour later, we were gathered in the barn.

"I can't believe we're talking about _another_ mission. We're being run ragged; a mission every couple of days isn't easy. I don't know how much longer we can handle this." Jarad said. "If we're planning on doing missions this frequently, we're going to start slipping up. Too much stress is going to run us into the ground."

"Hopefully this'll be the last mission we have for a while." I said. "You all know the importance of this; the Yeerks can't be allowed to gain the advantage of not needing Pools. All I'm asking for is one final mission, and then we can take the week off. After this, if we have to go on another mission for a week, I'll make it all up to you somehow."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Darren said. "I keep wondering if your plan is to run us until we drop from exhaustion or stress and therefore doom the Earth."

"I assure you, I have no such plans." I said. "I understand this past week has been hard, and I'm going to ask each of you for your opinion on this mission. If you're against the mission, you don't have to go; I'm not going to force you. However, I am going to say this: The more of us who go, the greater our chances of success. However, Jeff can't go this time because we can't risk him being associated with these attacks any more than he already is. One more appearance at the site of an attack and they'll probably put two and two together."

"Alex has a point. I'm going to have to sit this one out." Jeff said. "I can't even really help you guys out this time; you can't use cell phones because you need to be able to morph, so I can't communicate with you that way. The best I could do is hang around outside the building in morph and talk you through it in thought-speech, but the guards will be looking for anything suspicious now. I'm sorry; you'll have to do this on your own. I can't give you any more details or they'll guess I'm not on their side anymore."

"So, in other words, we're going to stumble through the mission and barely escape with our lives . . . again." Jarad said.

"But we'll still escape with our lives." Kendra said. "None of us have died, and none of us will. Alex knows what he's doing, don't you, Alex?"

"I do. So who's going?"

"I'm in." Kendra said.

"What else can we do?" Jarad said.

((I would follow you to the hypothetical gates of Hell and through them, Alex. Where you go, I go.)) Aldrea said.

"I can't let my best friend throw himself into a crazy scheme without me, can I?" Darren said.

Laurie smirked. "Let's do it!" she said.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A few hours later, after ironing out the details of the plan, we were ready to head into Ardam Industries. Jeff had managed to figure out how long we had until the test was going to be performed, and we had to attack the facility before then. After one final run-through of the plan, the six of us who were going morphed to bird-of-prey. From the time we left and headed to the facility, we had three hours. That was more than enough time, according to Jeff.

We took off, heading for Ardam Industries. We landed about a block away, then demorphed and morphed to flies. We wound up lost for a little bit, but then we managed to find our way to our destination after about half an hour.

We waited until someone was about to walk in, then followed the person in. We flew around for a little while longer, finding our ways to the bathrooms so that we could demorph. After we demorphed, we used the computerized maps of the building to figure out where the main power room was. We then morphed back to fly and headed for the power room. When we got there, we ducked into a closet right next to it to demorph and then remorph to battle morphs. I had decided to use my Javrakari morph, and the others had decided to use their normal morphs, except for Jarad, who had acquired a Hork-Bajir morph when we'd gone in for questioning, and Aldrea, who would use her Andalite form. They were going to be the ones trying to trigger the self-destruct of the facility. We entered the power room, took out the three Hork-Bajir in the room, then demorphed to acquire the Hork-Bajir before remorphing. I was waiting just inside the door to take out anyone who entered the room. After a while typing away at the computer, Jarad sighed.

"I'm not an expert on Yeerk codes. I've tried almost everything. Aldrea, are you having any luck?" he asked.

((I believe I am. However, these are extremely complex codes. The self-destruct code is apparently hidden within a myriad of other codes beneath several layers of encryption.)) Aldrea said, continuing to enter codes in.

Just then, the door opened, and a group of Hork-Bajir walked in. Upon seeing us, one of them opened its mouth to let out a shout. It didn't have time before it was vaporized by my energy weapon and the others were set upon by Aldrea, Laurie, Jarad, Darren, and Kendra. I looked at Aldrea after we'd dispatched the five Hork-Bajir.

((Aldrea, keep trying to crack those codes. And hurry. We probably don't have long before more of them show up. Everyone else, get ready to deal with more enemies. I don't know if they managed to sound an alarm. Odds are they didn't, but, when they don't show up to some other place, others'll come looking for them. Hopefully, we'll be out of here by then.)) I said in thought-speech.

A few minutes later, Aldrea looked up, an Andalite smile on her face. ((I believe I have isolated the self-destruct code from the others. I have already locked out all other consoles so that they cannot stop the self-destruct. I am entering the code now. We have ten minutes to get out of here as of . . . now!)) she said, hitting what amounted to the 'enter' key. Immediately, alarms started sounding and red lights started flashing.

I looked at the others, who had gone to Hork-Bajir after we'd acquired them. ((Let's blow this joint!)) I said.

"Before it blows up!" Darren joked, using the Hork-Bajir mouth.

((RUN!)) I yelled, opening the door and running as fast as I could. A Hork-Bajir stepped in front of me, raised a Dracon beam, and fired. I dodged before it fired, then raised my own energy weapon and vaporized that Hork-Bajir. More Hork-Bajir, some Human-Controllers, and a few Javrakari started pouring into the corridors. We were fighting viciously. I heard Laurie scream as one of her arms was sliced off and Hork-Bajir blood squirted out.

((No one hurts my sister!!)) Jarad yelled, slashing outward and decapitating the Hork-Bajir that had hurt Laurie. Suddenly, I noticed a Hork-Bajir level a Dracon beam at Aldrea and fire once, twice, three times. One shot took Aldrea's left arm clean off, the second took off a stalk-eye, and the final shot took missed. At the same time, a Javrakari sliced into her flank with its five claws and the bladed hand. She screamed in pain, stumbling for a second.

((Aldrea!!)) I yelled, shooting at the Hork-bajir that had attacked her. Its head exploded as about 15,000 volts of electricity from the electroshock emitter blasted into it at the same time as the energy blast hit it. Aldrea slashed out at the Javrakari, decapitating it in five hacking movements of her tail blade. A second Javrakari attacked her, managing to deliver several slicing blows before I shot it and it vaporized. A Hork-Bajir came at me, and I decapitated it with the blade-like clamp of my morph's left hand. All the while, we were working our way out of the building. We still had a ways to go, and I knew we didn't have long until the self-destruct detonated.

((Stop fighting and just run!!)) I yelled in thought-speech. The others stopped fighting and began to run. Aldrea let out a scream as three Dracon beams lanced into her and a Javrakari energy blast narrowly missed her. She slowed down significantly, stumbling a lot more.

I noticed that Aldrea was lagging behind. I dropped back, then said, ((Aldrea, morph to something small! There's no way you're going to make it out of here unless you morph!))

Aldrea obediently began to morph, trying to keep up with me the whole time. I noticed she was morphing to a djabala, a small creature native to the Andalite Homeworld. She was also taking a long time to morph. She was weak from the Dracon beams and the cuts, and the Javrakari venom wasn't helping any. I was beginning to think she would die before she finished morphing.

As soon as she got small enough to carry, I grabbed her and held her in my upper arms as she continued to morph. As soon as the doors leading out of the facility came into sight, I put on an extra burst of speed and barreled out of the doors, yelling at Aldrea to stay as a djabala until we could morph to something else. We ran into the parking garage near Ardam Industries, up to the top floor, and then I looked at the others.

((Demorph, then morph to flies. I'll morph raptor and guide you guys to a back-alley to demorph to human and get out of there. Aldrea, can you hang in there?))

((I believe I can, Alex. Morphing helped. I am simply tired. I believe I can manage one final morph.))

((Then morph! We don't have long!)) I said, beginning to demorph along with the others. Once I was human, I began to morph to bald eagle as the others went fly. I could hear the pursuing enemies charging up the stairs. As soon as I finished morphing, I took off and disappeared out of sight by flying up to the roof of the parking garage and perched there so the Controllers couldn't see me, since a raptor would be obvious as a morph. The others had finished morphing to fly. I pointed them in the right direction as the Controllers looked around bewildered.

Once we landed in the alley, we demorphed and headed back to the barn.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

When we returned to the barn, Darren looked at me.

"You are IN-FREAKIN'-SANE!!" He yelled. "We could have been killed!! Aldrea nearly **_died_**!! What would have happened if one of us _had_ died? How would you have explained it to our parents if one of us had demorphed too slowly or died before we could have demorphed?"

"But none of us did. That's all that counts." I said. "Now, as promised, you guys can all take the week off."

"Just let me vent! You are an insane, stupid, crazy SOB, and you need to take your insane ideas and shove them where the sun doesn't shine! Then you need to get a brain transplant and destroy your original brain by burning it with napalm! Okay, now I'm done. Don't do anything stupid, like what I just told you to do."

A few minutes later, my mom came out and insisted that the others stay for dinner since it was almost dinnertime anyways.

Two hours and one dinner later, Aldrea came inside from where she'd been eating some grass in addition to the human food.

((I believe I should leave. Alex, would you mind coming with me? I need to talk to you.)) Aldrea said.

I looked at my parents for approval. The nodded, and I looked at Aldrea again. "Which morph should I use?" I asked.

((A bird-of-prey morph would probably suffice.)) she said. I nodded, then began to morph to bald eagle as Aldrea began to morph to _kafit_ bird.

When we took off, I looked at Aldrea. ((What do you want to talk about, Aldrea?)) I asked.

((I wanted to talk about . . . about what I want you to do if I don't survive this war. That battle at-))

((Aldrea, don't think like that. We're all going to survive this.)) I said, cutting her off.

((Alex, you have to understand, that battle at Ardam Industries made me realize that we might not survive this. It isn't like one of your strategy games where you can restart when you die. This is real, and this is dangerous. So, anyways, I want you to promise me that, if I do die, you'll get my body back to my family on the Andalite Homeworld. Let them know I died fighting. Tell them that . . . that I love them and that I'm sorry I couldn't see them one last time before I died.))

((Aldrea, I'm not going to do that because you aren't going to die. None of us are going to die. You have to believe that, or you **_WILL_** die because you'll be convinced you are going to die. Don't think, 'I'm going to die'; think 'I'm going to live', and you'll be just fine.)) I said.

((I understand that you have to put on this brave face for the others because you're the leader, but it's just the two of us here and now. Can you honestly tell me that you think we're all going to live, that there isn't the slightest chance that even one of us might demorph too slowly and die in morph, that we might be killed before we could demorph, that one of us might actually _die_?)) Aldrea asked.

((Aldrea, the truth is, I'm scared that one of us might die. I just keep thinking that, if I don't admit it, that somehow makes it less likely. I was scared you'd die back there. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you died. If it were one of the others, I could deal with it in time, but you . . . I can't imagine having to live knowing you died because you were following me. I don't know if I can deal with you risking your life while following me in this war.))

((Alex, death is inevitable. There is a huge chance that one of us might die, and, once you accept that, you won't worry so much about it. I made my peace with whatever higher powers are out there when I first entered the military. I accept that my life may well be spent saving others, and that I cannot choose to leave this war because my people, and yours, still have need of me and my life. I know the risks, and I would follow you anywhere because I trust you. I know that, if I die, it will not be your fault, but the will of fate. You cannot blame yourself for a person's death in war, nor can you expect to lead those under you from death every time you face it; you can only hope that the life lost was not wasted senselessly, but spent wisely.))

By now, we had reached the Andalite military base. Aldrea delivered a thought-speech identification code and we were allowed to pass. Aldrea swooped down and landed by the area where her designated scoop was located. I circled around and prepared to fly off, but Aldrea's voice stopped me.

((Please stay, Alex. I wish to talk to you some more.))

((Okay.)) I said, gliding down, landing beside her, and beginning to demorph. Aldrea was ahead of me, but only slightly. When I finished demorphing, she motioned for me to follow her into the scoop.

((I don't wish for our conversation to be overheard by the wrong ears.)) she said. ((Inside, it is much easier to talk privately. No one would eavesdrop on us inside.)) she said.

Once we were inside her scoop, I looked around. There was a computer terminal in one corner and a desk/table with a holographic picture of myself, Aldrea, Jarad, Laurie, Kendra, and Darren on it. There was also a small cabinet in one corner and a mini-fridge next to it. Also, there were two chairs by the desk. Other than that, the scoop was bare. Aldrea walked over to the cabinet and unlocked it with a code, a fingerprint scan, a DNA scan, and a four-eye retinal scan.

"Why all the security?" I asked.

((You'd be surprised how little you can trust others.)) Aldrea said, opening the cabinet. I noticed several bottles inside.

"Aldrea, what are those?" I asked, although I had an idea as to what it was.

((Vodka, grain alcohol, stuff like that.)) she replied casually. ((I keep it for special occasions. I'd say narrowly escaping death qualifies.))

"How'd you get it?" I asked.

((A human morph.)) she said, pulling out a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. ((Do you want anything?)) she asked, beginning to morph to human.

"No thanks. I thought you wanted to talk some more?"

"I do. For one thing, it won't be easy getting off base for missions anymore. I've had to miss a few things on base as is. I don't know how many more excuses I can come up with to get off base." she said, opening up the bottle and filling up one of the shot glasses. One thing I immediately noticed about the morph was that it wasn't her usual one. It still had features of Laurie and Kendra, but I could tell it was made completely from female DNA. It was clothed in a black leotard. She raised the glass to her lips and drained it in a single gulp.

"Aldrea, doesn't the Andalite military do drug tests or something?" I asked.

"I discovered that morphing removes alcohol from the body's system, as it does with venom and poison. As soon as I demorph back to my natural body, I'll be sober again." Aldrea said, reaching out and taking my hand. "I'm thankful for you saving me on these last two missions." She said, leaning forward and brushing my cheek with her hand, then refilling the shot glass and draining it again, then repeating the process.

"You're absolutely sure you don't want anything?" she asked as she poured her fourth shot, slurring her words slightly.

"Yeah." I said. Aldrea drained the fourth glass and then set it aside. She moved in even closer, then, before I knew what was happening, she was kissing me full on the lips. I was shocked as her left hand grabbed the back of my head and pulled me even deeper into the kiss. I felt myself giving in and beginning to run my hand along her back to the back of her head to push her lips against mine even harder. It was only after I felt her hand tugging at my shirt that I managed to recover my senses. I pulled out of the kiss, then backed away.

"Aldrea, you're drunk." I said firmly.

"What's the matter? Don't you find me attractive?" She asked, staggering over to me and trying to put her arm around me for another kiss.

"Aldrea, stop it. I"m not going to take advantage of you when you're drunk. I wouldn't be able to handle knowing I did that." I said, trying to move toward the exit of the scoop as Aldrea tried to kiss me again.

"Aldrea, I've got to go." I said.

"Please stay." She said, moving toward me.

"Aldrea, I've really got to go." I said, then ran for the exit. As soon as I was outside of the scoop, I began to morph to bald eagle. Once I finished morphing, I took off as Aldrea came out of the scoop, pleading with me to stay.

I flew by the barn on my way to the house, noticing as I did so that the others were still in the barn. I flew in through my open bedroom window, demorphed, then sat down on the bed and tried to process what had happened with Aldrea.


End file.
